System for discharging heat out of head-mounted display
A head-mounted display (HMD) includes a hybrid fan, a printed circuit board (PCB) with one or more electronic components and a heat pipe to dissipate heat. The hybrid fan has a center axis extending from a rear side of the HMD to a front side of the HMD. The hybrid fan pulls air from a rear side of the HMD. The heat pipe has an end coupled to the PCB. The heat pipe partially surrounds a periphery of the hybrid fan and transfers heat away from at least the PCB. The HMD further includes a side cover and a front cover. The side cover encloses the hybrid fan, the PCB and the heat pipe. The front cover is attached to the side cover with a slit between an outer edge of the front cover and an outer edge of the side cover to discharge air from the hybrid fan.
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This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/845,769, filed Apr. 10, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/454,519, filed Jun. 27, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,656,690, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/491,522, filed Apr. 19, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,379,583, each of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDThe present disclosure generally relates to a system for dissipating heat generated in a head-mounted display (HMD), and specifically relates to a system for discharging heat out of the HMD based on a hybrid fan and a heat pipe.
The HMD can operate as part of, e.g., a virtual reality (VR) system, an augmented reality (AR) system, a mixed reality (MR) system, or some combination thereof. During operations of the HMD, heat is generated inside the HMD. The heat in the HMD may be generated by one or more electronic components of the HMD, by a face of a user wearing the HMD, etc. For proper operations of the HMD, the heat generated inside the HMD needs to be efficiently discharged out of the HMD.
SUMMARYEmbodiments of the present disclosure relate to a head-mounted display (HMD) that comprises a hybrid fan, a printed circuit board (PCB) with one or more electronic components and a heat pipe. The hybrid fan has a center axis extending from a rear side of the HMD to a front side of the HMD. The hybrid fan is configured to pull air from a rear side of the HMD. The heat pipe has an end coupled to the PCB. The heat pipe at least partially surrounds a periphery of the hybrid fan and transfers heat away from at least the PCB. The HMD further includes a side cover and a front cover. The side cover encloses the hybrid fan, the PCB and the heat pipe. The front cover is attached to the side cover with a slit between an outer edge of the front cover and an outer edge of the side cover to discharge air from the hybrid fan.
The figures depict embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles, or benefits touted, of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONEmbodiments of the present disclosure relate to a head-mounted display (HMD) with thermal exhaust design that includes a hybrid fan and a heat pipe. The hybrid fan discharges heat through a front side of the HMD. A printed circuit board (PCB) including a central processing unit (CPU) may be placed below a top surface of the HMD and connected to the heat pipe to transfer heat away from the CPU effectively. The HMD also includes a metal frame that acts as a heat sink in addition to providing structural support.
The HMD 100 shown in
The HMD 100 shown in
In one embodiment, the front rigid body 105 includes one or more electronic display elements (not shown in
The one or more electronic display elements of the HMD 100 may be integrated into an electronic display (not shown in
The HMD 100 may also include an optical assembly (not shown in
The hybrid fan 205 has a center axis extending from a rear side of the front rigid body 105 to a front side of the front rigid body 105. The hybrid fan 205 pulls air from the rear side of the front rigid body 105 to the front side of the front rigid body 105. For example, the hybrid fan 205 pulls the air (e.g., warm and moist air) from a cavity between a face of a user wearing the HMD 100 and the front rigid body 105 to cool down temperature in the cavity. The hybrid fan 205 exhausts the air at sides of the axial fan 205 after pulling the air from the rear side of the front rigid body 105. In this way, the hybrid fan 205 discharges heat from the user's face or the facial cavity out of the HMD 100 and also cools electronic components of the PCB 210. More details about air flows for discharging heat out of the HMD 100 are disclosed in conjunction with
The PCB 210 is mounted on the metal frame 220. The PCB 210 includes one or more electronic components that perform different operations in the HMD 100. In some embodiments, the PCB 210 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 230 that performs computation operations in the HMD 100. The CPU 230 and other electronic components of the PCB 210 generate heat when performing the operations in the HMD 100. To reliable operate the HMD 100, the heat generated by the one or more electronic components of the PCB 210 is discharged out of the HMD 100 and a temperature of each electronic component is kept below a threshold level.
For efficient transferring of heat away from the PCB 210, the heat pipe 215 is included in the front rigid body 105 of the HMD 100. The heat pipe 215 at least partially surrounds a periphery of the hybrid fan 205, as further shown in
The first member 235 of the heat pipe 215 is coupled to the PCB 210 via a metal bracket 250, a metal plate 255 and a resilient material 260 placed in an opening of the metal plate 255. As shown in
The heat pipe 215 is connected to the metal frame 220 to transfer heat away from the one or more electronic components of the PCB 210 into the metal frame 220 that acts as a main heat sink. The metal frame 220 spreads the heat, thus facilitating discharging the heat out of the front rigid body 105, e.g., through the slit 125 formed between the outer edge of the front cover 115 and the outer edge of the side cover 120 of the front rigid body 105 shown in
As discussed in conjunction with
As discussed above in conjunction with
As discussed above, the hybrid fan 205 pulls warm and moist air from a rear side of the front rigid body 105 to the front side of the front rigid body 105, i.e., from the facial interface 405 to the front side of the front rigid body 105. Therefore, the hybrid fan 205 transfers the warm air and heat away from the face of the user and/or from the facial cavity through the hybrid fan 205. After that, the hybrid fan 205 exhausts the air at the sides of the hybrid fan 205 and along at least a portion of the inner surface of the front cover 115 (not shown in
The language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the disclosure be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the disclosure, which is set forth in the following claims.
Claims
1. A head-mounted display (HMD) comprising:
- a fan having a center axis extending from a rear side of the HMD to a front side of the HMD, the fan configured to expel air through a slit at a front rigid body of the HMD;
- a circuit board with at least one processor separated from the fan, the at least one processor generating heat during operation of the HMD; and
- a metal frame acting as a heat sink and configured to receive the heat and dissipate the heat, the central axis of the fan perpendicular to a side of the metal frame facing the fan, the circuit board directly mounted onto the metal frame for cooling by the metal frame and the fan.
2. The HMD of claim 1, wherein a front cover of the front rigid body is attached to a side cover of the front rigid body with the slit between an outer edge of the front cover and an outer edge of the side cover to discharge the heat out of the HMD.
3. The HMD of claim 2, wherein the air is pushed to flow at least partially along an inner surface of the front cover and out of the HMD through the slit.
4. The HMD of claim 1, wherein the metal frame, the fan and the circuit board are enclosed within a side cover of the front rigid body.
5. The HMD of claim 1, wherein the metal frame spreads the heat to facilitate discharging the heat out of the HMD through the slit.
6. The HMD of claim 1, wherein the metal frame has edges shaped with contours that at least partially match an internal contour of a side cover of the front rigid body to support the side cover.
7. The HMD of claim 1, wherein the fan is further configured to pull air from a cavity between a face of a user wearing the HMD and the front side to decrease a temperature in the cavity.
8. The HMD of claim 1, wherein the fan is further configured to pull air from the rear side of the HMD to cool the at least one processor.
9. The HMD of claim 1, wherein the fan is further configured to exhaust air to flow over the at least one processor for cooling the at least one processor.
10. The HMD of claim 1, wherein the fan is further configured to exhaust air at sides of the fan after pulling the air from the rear side of the HMD.
11. The HMD of claim 1, further comprising:
- a heat pipe in an interior space defined by a front cover of the front rigid body and a side cover of the front rigid body, the heat pipe at least partially surrounding a periphery of the fan and transferring the heat away from the at least one processor.
12. The HMD of claim 11, wherein an end of the heat pipe is coupled to the at least one processor via a thermal interface material, and the heat pipe transfers the heat away from the at least one processor into the metal frame.
13. The HMD of claim 11, wherein the heat pipe is horseshoe shaped with a first member coupled to the at least one processor, a second member extending parallel to the first member and a third member connecting the first member and the second member.
14. A head-mounted display (HMD) comprising:
- a fan having a center axis extending from a rear side of the HMD to a front side of the HMD, the fan configured to expel air through a slit at a front rigid body of the HMD;
- a circuit board with at least one processor in an interior space defined by a front cover of the front rigid body and a side cover of the front rigid body, the at least one processor generating heat during operation of the HMD;
- a metal frame acting as a heat sink in the interior space configured to receive the heat and dissipate the heat, the central axis of the fan perpendicular to a side of the metal frame facing the fan, the circuit board directly mounted onto the metal frame for cooling by the heat sink and the fan.
15. The HMD of claim 14, wherein the fan is further configured to pull air from a cavity between a face of a user wearing the HMD and the front side to decrease a temperature in the cavity.
16. The HMD of claim 14, wherein the fan is further configured to pull air from the rear side of the HMD to cool the at least one processor.
17. The HMD of claim 14, wherein the fan is further configured to exhaust air to flow over the at least one processor for cooling the at least one processor.
18. The HMD of claim 14, wherein the air is pushed to flow at least partially along an inner surface of the front cover and out of the HMD through the slit.
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Type: Grant
Filed: May 10, 2021
Date of Patent: Sep 6, 2022
Patent Publication Number: 20210278875
Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC (Menlo Park, CA)
Inventors: Boyd Drew Allin (Seattle, WA), Robin Michael Miller (Redmond, WA)
Primary Examiner: Nidhi Thaker
Application Number: 17/315,770
International Classification: G06F 1/16 (20060101); G06F 1/20 (20060101); G06F 3/01 (20060101);